chickˈen-hearted or chickˈen-livered adjective

Timid, cowardly

chickˈenpox noun

A contagious febrile disease, chiefly affecting children, not unlike a mild form of smallpox

chicken run noun

An enclosure for hens

chicken wire noun

Wire netting having a small hexagonal mesh

chick flick noun (derog inf)

A film likely to appeal only to women

chick lit noun ( derog inf)

A type of fiction with themes designed to appeal to young women

chickˈpea noun see separate entry.

chickˈweed noun

1. Any plant of the genus Stellaria, esp S. media, one of the commonest of weeds, much relished by fowls and cage-birds
2. A similar related plant, mouse-ear chickweed, of the genus Cerastium

chickweed wintergreen see wintergreen under winter

chicken-and-egg situation

One in which it is impossible to tell which is the cause and which the effect

chicken out (informal; often with of)

To desert, quit, through losing one's nerve or cowardice

count one's chickens before they are hatched

To plan or act on the basis of expectations or future results without conclusive evidence that they will be fulfilled

like a headless chicken

In a frantic, panic-stricken manner

no (spring) chicken (derogatory or facetious)

No longer young

the chickens have come home to roost see under roost¹